Rainy Day in Oregon

By jerispics

Birdbrain

No not this crow. Another bird. Have you ever wondered why someone might use the term 'birdbrain' for a person who might be/seem stupid? Well I know the answer now. Looking out my kitchen window today I noticed one of the blackheaded grosbeaks on the feeder with his head in one of the holes where the food comes out. I knew the feeder needed to be refilled and thought he was just sticking his head in to reach some tasty morsel that hadn't made it's way to the outer tray. Well I was right. Except that his head was stuck inside the hole! Yep. He was able to push his head in, but unable to pull it back out. Of course in my hurry to free him from his unfortunate situation I did not think to take a photo of him first! Dang it! But really, it was very hot outside and I felt sorry for the little guy. I went out to the feeder and put my hand and fingers around his body/wings so he couldn't flap and gently tried to pull. Well I could see right away that wasn't going to work. Like the kid who sticks his head through the stair balustrades it wasn't going to come back out. My son-in-law happened to be here and he came over to me to see what was going on. Well my hand and arm were to big go inside of the feeder so I tried to talk Gracie through it and have her gently push down on his head while I pulled. Well as soon as I got to the part about not touching his beak because he could bite her, she wasn't having anything to do with it other than watching us work at it. Then my s-i-l thought about taking one of the feeder perches off so I could get my finger in there to assist. Well that worked. I gently pushed down on his head while pulling his body and he became free of the feeder. I held him for a just a few seconds in my sweaty hand (I'm sure he was sweating it too!) then let him go and off he flew. Regretting the instant I let go that I hadn't taken the time to get a photo. Oh well, this crow will have to do.Here is a photo of the feeder with a blackheaded grosbeak sitting on it. Just under the base of his tail you can see the little hole he had his head stuck in.

Edit here: We'll be leaving to go camping for Independence Day (long) weekend Wed. So won't be posting any blips til Monday. Have a good one and stay safe.

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